Jakarta. Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto underwent a 12-hour interrogation by prosecutors on Monday as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal export of crude palm oil (CPO) that resulted in the conviction of five defendants.

Airlangga, who also serves as the chairman of Golkar Party, refrained from divulging specific details about the questioning at the Attorney General's Office in Jakarta. 

After the extensive session in the evening, he said: "I'm here to answer questions – there are 46 of them – and hopefully I have provided the best answers possible. Regarding other things, investigators will make the explanation."

According to Kuntadi, the director of corruption investigation at the AGO, Airlangga was summoned due to "new facts" that emerged during the court hearings involving the CPO export case defendants. 

Kuntadi clarified that the interrogation aimed to obtain information about Airlangga's policies as the economic minister in handling the cooking oil shortage last year, which led President Joko Widodo to temporarily ban CPO export.

However, Kuntadi refrained from providing further details, citing technical aspects of the investigation that cannot be disclosed to the public.

The criminal investigation was launched by the AGO after a Trade Ministry official issued permits for several companies to export CPO and its derivative products between January 2021 and March 2022, despite domestic supply shortages. The export ban was eventually imposed between April and May of last year.

Five defendants, including Indra Sari Wisnu Wardhana (former Trade Ministry's director general of international trade), Lin Che Wei (a renowned market analyst and advisor to Airlangga), Master Parulian Tumanggor (commissioner of Wilmar Nabati Indonesia), Stanley MA (manager of Victorindo Alam Lestari), and Pierre Togar Sitanggang (general manager of Musim Mas), were found guilty of fraudulent CPO export licensing and received prison sentences ranging from five to eight years. 

The Supreme Court has upheld their convictions.

Additionally, prosecutors have implicated three companies – Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group – as suspects in the case. 

These companies are alleged to have fraudulently obtained CPO export licenses from the Trade Ministry, resulting in a state loss of Rp 6.47 trillion, according to AGO estimates.